Revisiting Miri

I went back to Miri for the first time in 7 years and 10 months. 

Miri Waterfront

I left Miri in 2014, and years have passed in a blink of an eye. The last two years have been difficult with the threat of Covid-19 pandemic. My travels have been halted and like everyone else, I've just been cooped up at home ... 

Now, travels have just resumed ... and I am gingerly braving myself to start traveling again. I managed to get a RM26 return flight to Miri last December. It was so cheap that I thought that if I did not dare to go, it was still fine to forfeit the tickets. 

Even when the date neared, I was still undecided about whether to travel. I only decided to go 24 hours prior to the departure ....

It was my first flight in more than 2 years. The flight was rather full, and unlike last time, I feared being in close proximity to strangers. The least I could do was to make sure that I keep my mask on all the time and to ensure that my hands were sanitised when I remembered. 

The trip was just 2 days ... and I stayed at 2 hotels in Miri; the stay felt a little uncomfortable, mainly because I was paranoid about the rooms being quarantine hotels and all. 

I had only 1 full day in Miri, and could not visit all people and places. So I had to be selective. I went back to my old school and was really happy to meet the clerks there - since it was school holiday, there were no teachers around. The school looked the same though many of the older staff was transferred already. It was nice to catch up.

Some parts of Miri had changed since I left ... particularly the Marina area, and the Miri Times Square area and the Miri Waterfront area. I did take the opportunity to visit my friend W there at her office at Times Square. Of course, the Marina area - where the Oil Barrel and the Seahorse statue were. I hanged out at Tanjong Lobang beach and Canada Hill for a short while. I did drive around the whole city for a bit, familiarising myself with my favourite spots around. 

Bintang Megamall was rather depressing, I found ... outwardly I thought it needed a fresh coat of paint ... the condition inside was really rundown. The basement parking was dark and dusty ... like it never finished construction. Besides belacan at the tamu and my favourite pastries at Krokop .., there wasn't much to buy home.

Food wise, I enjoyed dim sum breakfast and orang ulu cuisine and seafood. And of course, how I missed nasi lalapan at Muara Restaurant. It was a short whirlwind trip ... too short indeed. I wished I had stayed longer.